Industry News

2012 Dealers’ Report Card

What do advisors have to say about their firms? All the insight, the ratings and the candid comments from the June 2012 issue of Investment Executive newspaper. To review the 2011 Dealers' Report Card, click here.

In this Special Feature

Pablo Fuchs, senior editor of Investment Executive, and Clare O’Hara, reporter, discuss the results of the 2012 Dealers’ Report Card and why “firms feel just right to advisors”. They outline the key finding’s of this year’s survey. They spoke at the TSX Broadcast Centre in Toronto.

The average advisor at the dealer firms is older, more experienced and less productive than last year. And, overall, it appears that advisors may be working a bit harder just to maintain their position within the financial services industry

When it comes to providing support for financial planning, some firms' ratings rose because of technological improvements to their financial planning software, better education and training, as well as increased flexibility

Firms that haven't restored their grid and bonus payouts to pre-recessionary levels garnered the most displeasure from their advisors. In contrast, advisors were most pleased at dealers that offer a balance among support, independence and payouts

There has been a shift in the expectations advisors have about their firm's promotional tactics in this post-financial crisis environment now, firms' branding strategies are becoming more important, as is marketing support for advisors' practices

When dealer firms have solid staff in place in their back office and compliance departments to provide support in an accurate, timely and helpful manner - and they do it all free of errors - this pleases advisors to no end